UPDATE 11/30 - 5:30pm: Hey everybody, this has been a blast. Somehow, it's been 2.5 hours and questions are still pouring in. I gotta get back to writing music, though. But, I'll check back in throughout the weekend and answer some more later. This is so much fun! Be sure to check out the last two episodes of "BLOOD AND CHROME" on Machinima next Friday. There are a couple fun musical cameos for you. :)

Another question: Did you know how important the notes in All Along The Watchtower were going to be when you initially composed it, and were the coordinates developed with the music, or done afterwards?

I had no idea! I had no clue what the meaning of the song would be in the fourth season. All I knew was that I needed to do an arrangement of Bob Dylan's song and do it in a 'BSG' style. I kept the lyrics and basic vocal melody the same, but really started from scratch with the music. Somewhere in there, that 12-note line really spoke to me, and it became the basis for what I was doing.

Then, over a year later, Ron called me and told me (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!) that he needed the final coordinates for the ship's last jump to be channeled through Kara, remembering the song she was taught as a little girl. So, I called up Kevin Grazier, the science advisor and asked him how the coordinates work. He told me we needed 12 numbers to describe a location in three-dimensional space.

It was crazy, like it was pre-ordained. I knew in an INSTANT how to do it, because that melody happened to be 12 notes. It was one of those moments when you feel like things must happen for a reason.

Hi I am actually writing my dissertation on your soundtrack for BSG!
I think writing for sci-fi, space and the future has dried up and a lot of composers approach this like they would any earth based show/film. What's your rationalising behind a crazy mixture of world instruments? Why does it work so well for space?

That's a tough question. To be honest, I don't approach scoring for space or science fiction any different than anything else. For me, it's about the tone and the characters. 'BSG' tapped into something primal for me, something primordial. Long before I knew what the last episode would reveal, I was drawn to the mythological elements in the names and locations, and the archetypes of the characters.

So, I wanted the music to sound old. Not just old, but ANCIENT. The oldest instruments in the world are the human voice and percussion, followed shortly by primitive woodwind instruments. So, those are featured prominently in BSG.

There's something so weird about watching spaceship dogfights while hearing ancient music. It just clicked.

Hey Bear, your work is amazing! The intro to The Walking Dead seriously creaps my wife out. And the instrumentals in BSG, especially during space/dogfighting scenes were part of what made that show great.

Wow, that's like picking your favorite child. Kind of impossible. But, some of the proudest moments I've ever had a composer were (in no particular order):
- writing DIASPORA ORATORIO for the BSG episode "Revelations"
- finishing the score for my first science fiction feature EUROPA REPORT
- scoring the HUMAN TARGET finale with the largest orchestra ever assembled for episodic TV. I'll never forget that session as long as I live.

Hey cube1701... this is a great question. First, a little background on how I deal with albums. As you guys probably know, I put a lot of time and energy into them and make sure that they are great listening experiences, not just a collection of cues that were mixed for broadcast. This approach resulted in some great BSG albums, and a great album for the Caprica pilot.

The rest of the series was no exception. I assembled a collection of the best cues into suites, re-recorded, re-mixed and re-mastered a fantastic double disc album. It's done, and it's been done for a while.

However, Caprica's swift demise and slim ratings made it difficult to get this album released. I can't move forward on anything like that without involvement from NBC Universal and for a long time, there was little interest in working on an album for a show that was no longer on the air. (For the BSG records, we always had the promotion of the following season or DVD release to piggy-back on for album promotion).

So, the bad news is that no album has come out yet. But, the good news is that we're beginning to make some real progress now. NBC Universal is showing interest in letting me release this music.

The best thing fans can do is continue to show their support and enthusiasm for the idea. I'm confident we can make it happen, as long as the fans make it clear to the powers-that-be that they want it.

What I don't understand is why they don't allow you to release it at all. Even if the demand is small, couldn't a little effort be put into putting some tracks on iTunes or something? Even if they only released it in digital format (to cut the cost of production) it would be better than nothing.

How can we show NBC Universal that we're interested? The scores for Caprica's first season (particularly the second half of the season) are some of my favorite cues you've ever written. It would make my week to see a release. :)

Passacaglia and The Shape of Things to Come are pretty much my favorite tracks from any TV series ever. Question is, how much time do you generally get to compose? I know filming a TV series can be hectic -- does that extend to composers as well? Ideally how much time do you want?

I spend as much time as I possibly can. There were episodes of 'BSG' I could score over two months. There were episodes I had to do in 3 days. The average is somewhere around a week or 10 days for typical TV. I can't do anything of real quality in less than 5 days, so I'm always working with producers to work schedules out in ways that make sense.

Hi Bear,
Love love love your music and wanted to let you know that at times, it moves me to tears. Was wondering if there are any artists that do the same for you and how that influences the creative process.

So, so many. Nothing moves me like music. It's why I do what I do. For me, it's mostly movie music, but not entirely.

Listening to the music of Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein or Ennio Morricone can just be devastating in all the best ways. I also love Queen, and get chills pretty much every time I hear Freddie's voice or Brian's guitar layering.

Danny Elfman's music is close to my heart as well.

Life would be empty without music. It means so much to me that I find I actually can't listen to it all the time because its overwhelming.

You are one of the most accessible composers I can think of, with your killer blog (seriously people, if you haven't checked it out, you should) and your YouTube channel videos, and your concerts, so is there anything you are not already doing to engage with your fans that you would like to do?

We love your music, we want to give you and distributors our money to hear and enjoy it! So what in the actual frak is AMC thinking?! Why won't AMC let us give them money so we can enjoy your music in all its glorious splendour? As fans, what do you think we can do to encourage them to sell your music?

Very very good. Keep an eye out on my blog or my twitter feed for more news. It may not be in the next 6 months, but I absolutely plan on performing again. Those concerts were too much fun to NOT do again. :)

I always loved Stu Phillips' music for the original BSG. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the reason the original show lasted in people's memories for three decades is, in part, because of the quality of his writing. It was the gold-standard of TV sci fi scoring for a long time.

When the new show came out, we were obviously going a different direction. While I was excited to have the chance to explore something new and different, it always bummed me out thinking that Stu may feel left out. After all, the new show borrowed the look, the story, the same character names, etc. But, not the music.

So, in Season 2, there was a chance to introduce the 'National Anthem' of the Colonies. It was written in the script that it should be the old 'BSG' Theme. However, I wanted to re-arrange the theme and make it our own.

So, I reached out to Stu and went over to his place. We sat down and looked at scores, parts, listened to cues. He gave me all these materials so I could get the theme right. Make it perfect and really reflect his intentions with my new version.

When I sent him the mp3 of my finished 'Colonial Anthem'... I've never been more nervous. But, he loved it. And he and I became very close friends. I found other places to incorporate his themes into the new 'BSG' as well.

Did it take a lot of convincing to get the studios to provide the budget for a live orchestra? I greatly appreciate that you use live musicians, and I'd love to see television go back in that direction.

Yes and no. It didn't take a LOT of convincing, but it always takes SOME convincing. I think the biggest problem composers face right now is apathy. Our budgets are slashed and we're often hired with the feeling that the job could've gone to anyone else, so we should just shut our mouths and do our job.

But, with a little confidence, it's easy to make the case after you get the job. Show the producers what they get in exchange. Show them how you can get a BIG budget sound for a medium budget orchestra. There are a ton of tricks.

But, the first step is to ask, and a lot of people don't even take that first step.

Bear, I love you. I just wanted to tell you that I started learning how to play violin about a year ago because of your incredible song Roslin and Adama. It was the first song I ever learned how to properly play!

I think your work on BSG is incredible and I give the gift of your soundtrack, particularly from Season 3 to anyone I know. Even though I had always paid attention to movie soundtracks, it wasn't until BSG that I really started paying attention to them on television before. Do you think there is a trend toward a more integrated musical presence in television and if so, what impact do you think it may have on how shows are produced?

The trend is that television shows in the past decade have just become better, really an elevated art form. EVERYTHING about them is better, including the music. It's been a creative renaissance in the medium.

Seriously incredible work you're doing, Bear. How did you come up with the idea of using Gamelan for the Cylon piece in BSG?

Could you expand a little on your process of choosing which timbres/sounds work best for a given piece? Is it more intuition, experience, formal training, experiment, or perhaps historical consideration?

Picking instruments and sounds for a project is the absolute starting point for me. It's the first step I take on any project I take on. And in fact, as soon as I start watching a project for the first time, my mind is already racing on this topic. I can't even begin to think of melodies or rhythms until I know what SOUNDS are going to be creating them.

As for why I picked the Gamelan sound for the Final Five, it was really that I wrote the melody first and found the sound fit it. (One of the rare instances where a melody came first). Years later, a friend came up to me and said he's been to Bali. He'd heard a gamelan orchestra playing a traditional tune in a village somewhere, and recorded it with his phone. He played it for me and sure enough... there was a melody there that was ALMOST my Final Five theme. It was weird.

As I mentioned earlier, 'BSG' was my first gig. It took years of writing music, starting before high school. Scoring dozens of student films, moving to Los Angeles and spending every waking minute trying to get better and loving every minute of it.

It was a natural process. I imagine the idea originated with Ron, since he wanted to use music as a narrative tool to (SPOILER ALERT) reveal the identities of the last four cylons. But, it also evolved throughout the last season as I began to collaborate with the writers more directly.

Greetings! I just want to say your work is awesome and very inspiring and as I'm a fellow composer, I'd also like to ask what your favorite top 3 VSTs (software instruments and effects) are that you use frequently.

Well, I don't really use a lot of these to be honest. The vast majority of my work is recorded with live instruments or custom made samples. I generally just use VST's for making demos of instruments that will be replaced with the real thing later.

However, in terms of synthesis, I've found the two plug-ins that I like the most are NI's MASSIVE (which you may have heard to great effect i last week's 'Walking Dead') and u-he's ZEBRA (which you may have heard to great effect in 'BSG: Blood and Chrome').

Both pieces of software are relatively easy to use, and I combine them with many plug-ins and effects to custom-tailor the sound I'm hearing in my head.

Hello Bear, thanks for doing this AMA and for your very enjoyable work in some enjoyable shows & films.

As an accordionist, how do you feel about the stigma occasionally attached to the instrument? Would you like to see it used in more popular music rather than being associated with dancing white people and "Weird Al" Yankovic?

I hate the stigma. To be honest, I never play polkas or any stupid shit like that, unless there's a really good reason. I think it's a very expressive and powerful instrument. Anyone who argues should watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPu3XBSlJyk

Music IS personal feelings. There's no way to separate it. So, if I'm scoring a scene on Tuesday, it could be totally different if I wrote it on Wednesday instead. For me, it's about channeling those personal feelings, remembering what it was like to feel emotions the characters are feeling. This is why scoring scenes like the end of "Killer Within" from "Walking Dead" can be so emotionally devastating.

It's like method acting. It might not be the most healthy way to write music, but its the only way I know.

Hi. I graduated university recently, and I had a lot of your music on repeat while writing my dissertation, especially Kara's Coordinates, so thank you for helping me pass.

I recently pledged to the World of Steam Kickstarter. The video mentioned you scored the first episode. Are you involved with the rest of the season at all?

In the first season of Walking Dead, when the group leave the camp, Adagio in D-Minor is used. Given how masterfully it was used in Sunshine and Kick Ass, it took me out of the scene a little to hear it. Was there a reason you didn't score this scene? Was Adagio a placeholder track that everyone liked enough to leave in?

I very much enjoyed your score from Dark Void. Does scoring a video game differ greatly from scoring a TV show, given that it depends much more on player input, whereas a TV show is linear and paced by the creators.

Do you have a dream project? For example, I'd love to hear you score something Star Wars related, and I guess that's more possible if they're doing as many spinoff movies as they've promised.

Was there a reason for the differences in All Along The Watchtower from the episode and from the soundtrack CD? I preferred the CD version, but it was strange to hear a different arrangement being used.

Yes, I am scoring the webseries WORLD OF STEAM. I'm doing the entire series, although only the first episode exists right now. People who contributed to the Kickstarter will get to hear it first and I believe that producer Matt King is also giving away some signed scores and soundtrack CDs to certain contributors. But, once the series goes online sometime next year, everyone will get to hear / see it.

I was not involved with that decision.

Scoring a game is different and the same all at the same time. The technicalities are very different, because the music must be formatted in ways that allow for maximum adaptability. But, thematically and emotionally I'm still trying to convey certain emotions and use themes to communicate larger story arcs (for games where that approach is appropriate)

Dream project? I've been so lucky that I feel like I've already scored a couple dream projects.

There are differences between album versions for most everything. The broadcast version had long gaps without lyrics, long sitar jams and extended sections to make room for dialog. The pacing is really weird. So, I made a 'single' version for the album, trimming out the fat. However, when the time is right, I think it would be cool to release the extended version as well. It has some great moments.

Huge fan of your music in both the Galactica series and The Walking Dead. I had not touched a piano in about a year when I bought the BattleStar Galactica piano book and I love playing the songs(a promise to return is my favorite).What age were you when you started composing your own music, and what advice would you give to someone such as myself who has only been composing for about two years now.

I really love the scores for Avatar and Legend of Korra by Jeremy Zuckerman and Ben Wynn. Those guys are good friends and I'm so thrilled to see them getting opportunities for incredible musical storytelling. I want to see them score bigger projects.

Well, I had specific instructions not to quote or reference any version that currently existed, so I didn't listen to any of them. Of course, we all know the Hendriz version, but I went back to the Dylan version and really internalized it. Then, I just decided to write the most kick ass and personal version I could. I didn't think about what the studio or network or even Ron Moore would think. I just went for it.

The result was this dark, heavy metal, Indian, George-Harrison-Meets-Rage-Against-The-Machine insane piece of music. I thought everyone would hate it, because it had so much personality.

But, everyone LOVED it. My first pass demo recording is virtually indistinguishable from the final recording.

It wasn't that I was surprised to hear the familiar tunes triumphant return, I was surprised by which tunes I heard, such as a bit of 'Heart of the Sun' when Husker gets his first look at Galactica in episode one.
Actually, wait...now that I think about it, first and last look of the Galactica. Got it. Derp.

Trailers don't interest me at all, I must say. I really need a longer narrative form to get my creative juices going. To be honest, I really admire the composers who can pull out the stops and write an amazing trailer score.

Hi Bear! You seem totally cool and have shown me how fun being a composer can be. At what point in a composer's career is it important to make the big investment in terms of computers, software and hardware? I'm currently on a very basic set-up and have pushed it to the limit, but the investment seems steep! Is there one crucial piece of equipment you would recommend to start out with? Thanks, and keep up the awesome work!

This is a very good question and I'm glad you asked. There are two schools of thought on this. One is, of course, to get everything now and be ready when the big gigs come.

My philosophy, though, is different. I say that the gigs will dictate how much stuff you need. As more work comes in, you can afford more gear and your work will sound better which will lead to better gigs, and so on...

I think, in general, there's too much emphasis on the gear. Yes, there's a MINIMUM amount of technology you need to be conversant with filmmakers and deliver a good product. But, you can always find help with this stuff. The most important thing is the QUALITY of your music, your inventiveness, your originality. This is what matters. The rest tends to sort itself out.

I'm a major BSG fan, especially of the music. My favorite piece from BSG is Roslin & Adama. I am curious as to what led you to create such a profoundly deep piece of music like that. How did you have to prepare to write such a piece and what did it feel like during and after you wrote it?

Well, I could lie and say it was a big emotional moment... but the fact is that it came very quickly. At the time I wrote it, I really had NO IDEA that it would become such a fan favorite or be a story line that would continue on so profoundly until the end of the series. Sometimes, these things can surprise you.

But, I've always loved Scottish and Irish music and I felt there was a sadness in their story line that would benefit from a folk/waltz on a Scottish fiddle. It worked out pretty well. :)

In a market of fairly bland television music, you manage to create some of the most fascinating music for some of the best shows on television. You rock! Just a side note here, but every time those strings start up for The Walking Dead intro, I crank the volume. That theme gets me every time.

On that note, when are we going to see an album for The Walking Dead? We're two and a half seasons in already! Also, will we ever see a boxset for your Battlestar Galactica scores? I'd pick up both in a heartbeat.

This is the one thing I've always wanted to do my entire life. Hearing scores like Silvestri's BACK TO THE FUTURE, Elfman's BEETLEJUICE, Goldsmith's ALIEN, William's EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and Poledouris' CONAN THE BARBARIAN sealed the deal for me at a very young age.

hi bear, are there any notable examples of musical ideas that you felt strongly about including in your work, but were shot down by the studio or producers?

for instance, in BSG were there any instances where Ron Moore / David Eick just kinda went "ehh, that instrument or musical passage is too weird or doesn't really belong, can we take it out?"

i'm asking because i kinda chuckled during the sequence in Blood and Chrome where Coker mans the raptor guns during the chase in Cylon space. at one point the music started rocking out with what sounded like an electric guitar HELL YEAH kind of solo, but was actually some other instrument. well played!

That was an electric violin solo by my boy Paul Cartwright, who played a lot on BSG. But, there is a heavy dose of electric guitar in the BSG:B&C score.

As for the other part of your question, that's a healthy part of the collaborative process. I rely on filmmakers to tell me what doesn't work so we can fix it and find the music that matches their vision.

In "Cally Descends", what is that opening instrument that just WAILS? It sounds so mournful... Great choice in instrumentation! That track is stellar, as is "The Signal" which has an incredible chant that blows my mind.

Hey Bear, became a fan of yours when I was watching BSG. I loved your theme for Human Target also and now I am enjoying your work on The Walking Dead. My question is, what is your favorite theme of all those series you've done ?

My favorite theme, like character theme, or Main Title theme? The first answers to spring to mind...
Character Theme - Katherine's Theme from Human Target
Main Title Theme - The Cape. That one just kicks ass and let me go back to my childhood days listening to Shirley Walker's score for 'Batman: TAS'

If a TV show you compose for decides to use licensed music for parts of it, do you usually have any input into what these are?

More specifically, did you help choose "When The Man Comes Around" for the massacre scene at the end of The Sarah Connor Chronicles (season 1)? It just fit so well with the action, and the lyrics were very relevant, too.

My favorite unreleased track is a re-recording of an old mexican folk song 'La Llorona', sung by John Avila of Oingo Boingo fame. I played accordion on it too and it incorporated my Sarah Connor Theme at the end. Just a fantastic track. I hope we can release it one of these days, yes.

Well, its usually different because the budgets are... well, there usually aren't budgets to speak of. The webseries I've been involved in are projects I do for fun because I love the people making them and want to help out filmmakers who have a great story to tell.

Just wanted to let you know I love your soundtracks for BSG... My friends and I play the BSG board game a lot and always love to listen to your soundtacks while we play. It really sets the mood, while we accuse each other of being a Cylon!!.

Within the re-imagined BSG universe, B&C would seem to have most in common with the mini-series, both of which draw particularly heavily on the classic series, and yet both of which were intended to kick off something new. Have those parallels shaped your musical approach, and how has it been different approaching B&C with a large body of past BSG work to build on, (albeit work from a later era of the show)?

Starting "Blood and Chrome" was an immense challenge. For purely personal reasons, I didn't want to recycle the same old sounds and themes as I'd done on 'BSG.' But also, creatively, its a totally different show. And I need closure on 'BSG.' That was such an epic journey, it would be too much to start it over again.

So, I needed some new approaches and techniques. And while the score to 'BSG' is clearly an influence, I think the score to "B&C" stands apart. I would love for the opportunity to expand upon it and do more episodes in the future.

Though I want to say it's impossible to pick one, I have to say my favorites would be
Revelations
Someone to Watch Over Me
The first four episodes of Season 3.
The reasons are because these are all absolutely astonishing pieces of television and I'm honored to be involved with them.

Hi Bear, I'm an enormous fan of your work on BSG. I've listened to the soundtracks hundreds of times while writing papers, my dissertation, etc. My wife and I also used "Roslin and Adama" as our song at our wedding. Have you ever considered releasing a CD of your amazing piano renditions of the BSG soundtrack? I'd definitely buy it! (For anyone who hasn't yet heard these, you should check out Bear's channel on youtube.)

I draw from the show. I tap into my love for the characters and the story. When I watch a show, even with a temp score (or no score) and temp visual effects, I still get a gut reaction the same as you guys do. I get to enjoy it as a fan. The only difference is, then I need to figure out how to help FINISH the show so that people can hear the music I'm hearing in my head when I watch it.

But, the key word there is 'enthusiasm.' If I don't love a show, or I'm not hooked with the characters, it's really tough.

I kind of use them all. :) I write in Digital Performer. The guys and gals in my studio print audio stems in Logic, orchestrate in Sibelius, host VSTs in Plogue Bidule, host VSTs and run Audio / MIDI through Vienna Ensemble Pro and we record and mix in Pro Tools. Whew! That's just to name a few. :)

You have said that season 4 of BSG was your favorite to score. Why is that? The music is fantastic and The Signal is my favorite piece in the entire series, so I can see why you love that season, but what about it stands out most for you that puts it up top?

Season 4 was the best experience for me, because I'd built up a huge body of thematic material that I could draw from. Imagine pulling a catapult back to the breaking point. That was season 1 - 3, because I kept writing new material as characters evolved and changed. Season 4 was letting the catapult go and having all those themes mash together in new and exciting ways.

The intro was inspired heavily by Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. The developmental sections are more modern harmonically, but I can't think of a specific composer who I borrowed from. I'm sure I did, though, just can't think of it. :)

First of all, love your work. You've written some of my favourite themes. Inspiring.

Do you ever compose as a team? In my head I'm l was pondering how awesome it would be if Giacchino and you worked together on something, but immediately realised that sort of creativity might be tough as a group when writing can be so introspective or auteur-ish. So, have you ever worked as a co-author on a series or project, was it difficult, enjoyable, productive etc.?

I was wondering if you talk a little about the creative process of writing for visuals. When you're working on a new show, what are the kind of things you think about before you get down to actually writing notes? Or do you write a whole load of sketches and then think about what works and what doesn't?

I map out themes. Themes are my road map through the score. If I know where the theme ends up at the end of the episode (or even further down the line in the series) then I can get an idea of how to approach a given scene with a given character.

Writing themes is a tortuous process, though. I can spend days on a single theme (the MT for The Cape took a week). That's when I sit at the piano for hours in misery playing the same little fragments over and over and over. It's like I'm unravelling a big cable knit sweater that someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting...